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Feast Day July 14 Tekakwitha, born in 1656 to a Christian Algonquin mother and Mohawk father, embraced a life of gentle service to others from an early age. She and her family contracted smallpox when she was a child; she was scarred from the disease and lost her family to it. Although her uncle took [...]
Story and Photos by Karen A. Avitabile “AT TIMES, THE LORD TESTS OUR FAITH BY WAITING AWHILE BEFORE HE ANSWERS. WHEN OUR PRAYERS ARE NOT ANSWERED IMMEDIATELY, WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO PRAY, PERSEVERE AND ASK HIM QUESTIONS APPLICABLE TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AND TO THE SITUATION NEEDING HEALING. I FOUND I NEEDED [...]
Archbishop Leonard P. Blair Pope Francis has been quoted as saying that today we live, not just in “a changing world,” but rather in a “world of change.” Nowhere is this more evident than in the turmoil we see around us regarding the very identity of the human person created male and female, reflecting [...]
By Most Rev. Bishop Kenneth Povish When you think in December about Catholic devotions and practices that have fallen into disuse, the one that comes to my mind at once is the custom that prevailed in Polish-American homes in my boyhood and well into my adult years. It was the Sharing of the Wafer on [...]
By Sue Parker Feast Day: Nov. 22 Believed to have been martyred around 230, St. Cecelia, patroness of music and musicians, continues to be honored for her unfailing devotion to God, and for her courage and generosity. According to stories from the fifth century, Cecilia was a Roman citizen from a wealthy family who secretly [...]
By Michelle DiFranco In Ireland and the UK, since the Middle Ages, tradition and folklore have surrounded the Feast of St. Michael the archangel, or Michaelmas. A well-known legend suggests that when Lucifer was banished from Heaven, he fell onto a blackberry bush. Upon falling into the thorny brambles, he scorched them with his fiery [...]
Archbishop Leonard P. Blair As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day during this month of November, it is timely to reflect on something that should be obvious, and once was, but is no longer for many people. I’m referring to the fact that Thanksgiving arose as a religious celebration, and throughout its history the [...]
By Nancy Rosebush Schertzing Sometimes in the thick of living, we lose track of that truth. But for Kathy and Andrew Rademacher, life and death, tears and laughter, searching and finding have been powerfully present throughout their journey. “We met on a Saturday night,” Andrew thinks back to when he was 25 and Kathy 21. [...]
By Cynthia Kaan Many families experience divisions at one time or another — disagreements about holidays, inheritance, perceived parental favoritism and more can lead to periods where someone in the family is not speaking to someone else. Especially as we approach the holidays, how can we move beyond those divides and press the reset button? [...]
Archbishop Leonard P. Blair When I was about to be ordained a bishop in 1999, I was required to make a “Profession of Catholic Faith” and an “Oath of Fidelity.” I remember that this took place at a vesper service for the clergy of the diocese. I also remember afterward overhearing one [...]